1.1 What Is Home Automation?

So what exactly does the term home automation mean? At its most basic level, it’s a product or service that brings some level of action or message to the home environment, an event that was generated without the homeowner’s direct intervention. An alarm clock is a home automation device. So is a smoke alarm. The problem is, these stand-alone devices don’t use a standard network communication protocol, so they can’t talk to one another the way that networked computers can.

One of my earliest memories of home automation was when the Mr. Coffee automatic drip coffee machine came out in the early 1970s. The joy this simple kitchen appliance brought my coffee-drinking parents was genuine. They were so pleased to know that when they woke up in the morning a freshly brewed pot of coffee would be waiting for them. Who would have thought that such a simple concept as a coffee maker combined with an alarm clock would change their world?

Now that we’re in the twenty-first century, rudimentary coffee makers are getting a makeover by tinkerers bolting network adapters, temperature sensors, and microcontrollers to make the brew at the right time and temperature and to send a text message alert that the beverage is ready for consumption. It’s only a matter of time before manufacturers incorporate inexpensive electronics into their appliances that do what tinkerers have been doing with their home electronics for years. But a standard communication protocol among such devices remains elusive. Nevertheless, efforts are afoot by a number of home automation vendors to address that problem.